My kid brother is in the process of launching a small independent music label. My dad is convinced that there is no way that he can make it in this industry because he’ll just be a small fish in a big pond. But I’ve been trying to explain to my dad how it is now possible for amateurs in any industry to gain a toehold in that industry because of the technology available and the power of online and word-of-mouth marketing.

Mostly my dad thinks that we’re nuts but sometimes I’ll explain it to him in a way that he understands. For example, he was ranting and raving the other day about how my brother couldn’t just hand out blank CDs with their label’s music because no one is going to take a Sharpie-noted CD seriously. That was when I explained to him about the technology that allows them to put out CDs that look like professional CDs.

The first thing I explained to my dad about this technology was that you can use CD labelers, DVD labelers or Disk Printers to decorate the CD so that it looks like it was professionally printed. Then I explained that you can also release music in a digital format for sale through a website or online music store. He seemed dubious at first but he at least stopped ranting about that point.